Ale to the 'Burbs is a monthly collaborative beer blog series. Five Chicagoland beer blogs…five communities…five suburban beer destinations…all on one day. From the hidden neighborhood gems to the well-known pillars of suburban craft beer, we've got the Chicago 'burbs covered. Links to the other four articles are listed at the top of this post. Check back next month for another set of articles.

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Monthly Archives: July 2013

We thought everyone knew about this gem, but I guess we were wrong. Yeah this bar is open until 4am on weekends, but this place is serious about their beer. In the western suburbs it cracks the top five when it comes to bars that carry rare beer. Make sure to check out all five submissions for Ale to the Burbs this month.

For the people in the know, Brixie’s Bar and Grill in Brookfield is one of the top suburban places to find great craft beers. It’s hard to believe that everyone doesn’t know this. We even questioned whether or not Brixie’s would make for a good write-up for Ale to the Burbs. After all, what would we tell people? There is this great place that has really awesome beer that you have already heard of and you don’t need us to tell you about. To decide if we should even write this up, I spoke with a few of my friends that are a bit more casual when it comes to beer. I was amazed at the results. Not one even knew Brixie’s had such an amazing craft beer selection. I spoke with a half a dozen of these people, and they all said the same thing. “Is that the place on Ogden that you go to at 2am when all the other bars close?” When I told them about the beer, they thought I was joking and started laughing. At this point I knew for sure that we would be adding this one to Ale to the Burbs. Brixie’s is a can’t miss beer destination and if you have any interest in beer you need to be going there.

A Good Example of a Brixie’s Draft List

The Beer

Thirty two taps pour many different styles of beer from IPA’s to Belgians to Barrel Aged Stouts. All someone has to do is to take a look at the tap handles and all of your questions will be answered when it comes to quality. The beer event schedule is always filled with interesting and creative events. An example of these events would be the Friday High Gravity tapping. Every Friday, a big beer is tapped. Sometimes they even do interesting experiments like infusing beers with flavors like vanilla, coffee, and mint. It is evident that there is a lot of passion for craft beer going into planning their draft list and beer events.

So many choices. It was hard to pick just one.

The Staff

Whenever we walk into a beer bar we usually like to test the staff and give them the opportunity to demonstration their knowledge base. You would not believe the elite beer destinations in Chicagoland that have servers with zero beer knowledge. Some can’t even recommend a beer when you give them hints like “I’m looking for a “hoppy” beer. It’s always nice to walk into Brixie’s, because you don’t even have to look at the draft list. You can ask the servers for recommendations and feel very confident you are going to get what you are asking for.

The Food

The food here is solid, but I would like to say one thing first. They have FREE bacon on Mondays until 11pm. That’s right….bacon. The menu is mostly comfort foods from the grill and the dishes they serve pair nicely with beer. There are daily food specials and everything I have ever ordered I have been pleased with.

Overall

Brixie’s is one of the top beer destinations in the Chicago suburbs and it is time to end this secret. Tell your friends and family, but most importantly make sure you stop by. For those interested in making a stop to Brixie’s in the near future, make sure to get your tickets to our upcoming Ale to the Burbs Bus Tour with Chicago Brew Bus on August 17th. To purchase tickets click here. Also, Beer Dogging Alpha Dog Members will get $1 off of their $10 food purchases at Brixie’s each day. For member information please visit http://www.beerdogging.com.